Written by

Tom Loftus and Andrew Wolfson

The Courier-Journal

The Legislative Research Commission said Thursday it gave prompt and appropriate attention to sexual harassment complaints made in February by two women staff members against then-state Rep. John Arnold.

“This investigation was appropriate and timely, and met your clients’ stated goal,” LRC General Counsel Laura Hendrix wrote in a letter to Thomas Clay of Louisville, the attorney representing Yolanda Costner and Cassaundra Cooper, who say Arnold groped them.

But Clay, who released the letter to The Courier-Journal, rejected the LRC’s suggestion that its investigation absolved the agency of wrongdoing.

“If they think I am going to accept their representation that there was no liability on LRC’s part, they are sorely mistaken,” he said in an interview.

Clay said he is “gathering information about the culture in the legislature” and that he expects to file a lawsuit soon on behalf of his clients.

A third legislative staff member, Gloria Morgan, followed Costner and Cooper last month in filing a complaint with the Legislative Ethics Commission against Arnold. All three women agreed to publicly release their ethics complaints. Morgan’s complaint accused Arnold of a pattern of inappropriate touching and offensive comments dating back more than three years.

But Hendrix’s letter to Clay concerns only Costner and Cooper and steps taken by LRC to address the concerns about Arnold they presented to LRC management last February. They said in their complaints with the ethics commission that LRC failed to fully address their concerns and protect them from Arnold.

Morgan’s lawyer, Brenda Allen of Frankfort, said she hadn’t received a similar letter from the LRC.

Arnold resigned last week citing health concerns and saying the controversy has destroyed his political future. But he said, “I do not believe that I am guilty of sexual harassment.”

With Thursday’s letter, Hendrix sent Clay a summary of the steps she said LRC had taken to protect Costner and Cooper and to monitor Arnold.

“I trust that once you review this document, you will be able to assure your clients that the LRC investigative staff took many steps to protect their rights,” Hendrix said in the letter, adding that the LRC believes that no settlement discussions are warranted because of the “prompt attention paid” to your clients’ concerns.

But Clay said he wants to explore whether there were previous complaints against Arnold, and he said the steps taken to monitor him were ineffective.

“This is a bunch of cover-your-behind stuff,” Clay said of the 22-point chronology submitted by LRC.

Hendrix also said in the letter that protections against Costner and Cooper remain in place and they will also be protected from retaliation.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said in a statement that the time line of LRC actions shows the complaints against Arnold “were handled promptly and professionally."

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said in a statement: “Upon advice of counsel, we think that was an appropriate letter to send.”

But Stivers said because Senate leaders were not briefed on the internal investigation until recently, “We cannot give carte blanche acquiescence to the letter.”

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136 and Andrew Wolfson at (502) 582-7189